# Compression

To improve performance and reduce bandwidth usage, the Pexip Engage API supports HTTP response compression.

# How it works
When your client includes an `Accept-Encoding` header specifying one or more supported compression algorithms, the server will automatically compress the response using a matching algorithm. The response will then include a `Content-Encoding` header indicating which algorithm was applied.

If no preference is specified (`*`), the server will default to `gzip`.

## Example request
```
GET /appointments HTTP/1.1
Host: api.pexipengage.com
Accept-Encoding: br, gzip
```

## Example response
```
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Encoding: br
Content-Type: application/json
...
```

# Supported algorithms
The API currently supports the following compression methods:
* `br` – Brotli compression
* `gzip` – Gzip compression
* `*` – No specific preference (defaults to gzip)

> Note: The list of supported compression algorithms may be extended or changed in the future.

# Best practices
* Compression is automatically applied by the server if the `Accept-Encoding` header is supplied; no additional configuration is required.
* Be aware that compression can increase CPU usage on both client and server sides.
* For very small payloads, compression may not provide a significant benefit.